What goes on inside Ari's head
by 2artemis2
Summary: This is my first story, so if u r gonna review, can u be nice, please? This is a story from Ari's point of view, it starts when the flock where still at the School and it'll end after Ari's death. But it'll have a happy ending.
1. At the School

What goes on inside Ari's head

I watched the bird kids while the whitecoats go ready to take blood samples from them. The smallest of them, a girl even younger than me called Angel, was first. She cried when she saw the whitecoat, and tried to hide in her dog crate. Then it was her brother's turn. They called him Gasman for some reason. He tried to be brave, but he started crying just like Angel even before they made him get out of his cage. After taking a blood sample from him, it was Nudge's turn, who was black and three years older than the Gasman. Just as the other two she cried a little, but not too much. Then, they decided it was the blind kid's turn. The flock called him Iggy, I think. He didn't cry, but looked as scared as the other three. I admired them so much for having each other, even if they did experiments and tests on them. After they had taken blood form the blind guy, they looked at Fang, getting the needle ready. He was always quite, and rarely spoke. But he never showed fear, actually, he never showed any emotions, like he didn't have a soul. Then, they turned to Max. Max, the most incredible of them all. She was never afraid of them, she was so brave and strong, probably that's why the whitecoats couldn't stop making tests on her, maybe wondering how she could be so perfect.

I admired her as no one else did, I wanted to be just like her. But when I followed or tried to speak to her, she just ignored me. She only talked to the other bird kids and loved them so much. No matter how hard I tried to be nice, she still ignored me. All she cared about was the flock. And that was all my father, Jeb Batchelder cared about too. He was obsessed with them, especially Max. Every time he looked at her, I saw pride in his eyes, his gaze softening. But when he looked at me, I saw nothing. He ignored me too, just like Max. It was like all the people I loved and cared about (which weren't many) hated me.

Sometimes, I would imagine telling the Erasers (the guards of the School) to kill the rest of the flock, so that Max would be mine and she would have no other option but to love me. Some other times, I dreamed about becoming one of _them_. Then I would join the flock and my father would admire me as he admires _them_.

But all this would be too good, and obviously, my life had to get worse. One day, my father decided to leave with the flock while everyone was sleeping. I heard voices, got up and saw my father whispering something. He was leaving, so I ran up to him.

'Where are you going?' I asked a bit scared. He looked at me coldly, showing no emotion in his eyes or his words 'go back to bed, Ari. I have to leave now.'

'Will you be back soon?' I asked sounding worried and like the useless child that I was. I thought I saw tears in his eyes, but it must have been my imagination. 'I'm not coming back in a long time, son. But in time, I will explain. You've got a big part to play in this, but you are not ready yet'.

'I want to come with you' I said, I mean, who would look after me? The whitecoats? Anyone could see that if he wasn't there, they would start playing with my DNA, just like they did to all the other mutant freaks. 'Where are you going?'

'Sorry Ari, no time to explain' he said, 'now go back to bed'.

Saying that, he turned around and went over to the flock. There was something wrong, they weren't in their cages! They seemed excited and happier than normal. What was going on?

'We are leaving, we are finally leaving!' I heard Max say. 'School's out forever! 'cause we are never coming back! We don't know how to thank you Jeb, you are our hero!'

And then, just as I started to realize what was happening, they were gone, and probably never coming back. I felt anger, resentment and hate exploding inside me. All the love and admiration that I had once felt for Max disappeared. I hated her now, hated her so much that all I wanted to do was kill her, right here, right now. She had always ignored me, thinking that I wasn't as good as her flock, hated me for no reason. But just now, she had stolen my father, who didn't love me anymore because of her. Maybe if she was dead, he would love me again. But if he didn't, I'd strangle him, making him feel all the pain that he made _me _feel.

The next day, I heard some whitecoats talking about my dad and the flock. They seemed angry, like they wanted to kill him. Maybe, I could help them do that.

'He betrayed us!' one of them exclaimed, 'the six experiments are gone, gone! How much money did we spend on them? They were the only successful hybrids apart from the Erasers!'

'Calm down. I have an idea, a great idea. Batchelder was stupid enough to leave his son here' they turned to me, and smiled. 'I imagine what would happen if we try to Erasify him at the age of three. Would the life span of Erasers be changed? What would we get?'

'Come here, boy' they said with evil expressions. 'Do you want to be stronger? Come here, we'll turn you into a superhuman.'

They were a bit scary, but I wasn't afraid. Nothing could be worse than wanting to kill someone so badly and knowing that you can't. If they turned me into a superhuman, I would be able to kill Max, starting with her flock. Those mutant freaks were an experiment gone wrong and had to disappear, that would be my job. _I will kill them, and I will be stronger than them_ I thought at the time, not knowing how painful the tests that were later on done on me would be. But I could resist physical pain, it didn't hurt as badly as my heart.


	2. Before Angel got kidnapped

**4 years later – Before Angel got kidnapped**

**Ari's POV**

The time has come. Maximum Ride will die soon, sooner than she imagines. Today is my seventh birthday, the best so far. That's because I'll be fighting Max in a few days, after all these years.

Jeb's forgotten all about it, but he always does. He doesn't even know how old I am. When he came back, two years ago, I thought he'd be really proud of me because I turned into an Eraser, and now I'm huge and stronger than any other experiment. But he wasn't even happy to see me. He just treated me as if he'd never left, as if I was anyone else he didn't see for some time. Actually, he was heartbroken, but not because he missed me or anything, it was because he had to leave _them._ Why can't he love me like he loves them? It's like they are their children, when I'm his son! But they'll be dead soon, so I should stop worrying. I'm gonna kill them myself, I'll say it was all an accident. We are supposed to kidnap them and bring them back to the School, but they'll be dead before anyone realizes what my real plans were.

I can't wait to see Max's face when I strangle her flock, one by one. The little one first, I can even taste her blood now. Then, her brother, who'll be just as easy to kill as her. My next snack will be the black girl, followed by the blind guy, who probably won't even be able to defend himself. But I don't know if the silent one will be so easy to kill… WHAT am I saying? I'm twice as big as them, I've got sharp claws and teeth that could break almost anything. They'll all be easy to kill.

I'll tide Max and make her watch. I'll watch the tears appear in her eyes and her desperate screams to save her flock. And after they're all dead, I'll untie her. She'll be so weak that she won't even be able to fight, but I'll make her. Oh yes, I'm gonna make her do whatever I want. But maybe, just maybe, I won't kill her. Maybe she'll be my friend if I spare her life. She'll be grateful to me and decide to be my friend. That'd be nice. Maybe she'll teach me how to be like her, and we'll be friends and we'll play cards together and she'll teach me all the things she knows… No, that can't happen. _Think with your brain, Ari, not with your emotions._ That's what my father always says, although he does the opposite. I've been asking him to let me kill the mutant freaks since he came back, but he won't let me do it just yet, and that's not because it's not the right moment. It's because he's obsessed with them. But when he sees that I'm stronger and better, he'll be proud of me. He _better_ be.

Maybe I should threaten him to say that he loves _me_ and not the mutant freaks. But that wouldn't work, 'cause I'd have to kill him in the end. But is that such a bad idea? Maybe not. Although I'd rather kill the freaks first and see what happens then.


	3. At the Institute in New York

**At the Institute – Just after the flock set the other mutants free**

Max has won many battles, but not this one. I will kill her now, she can't escape. I still can't see why she'd risk everything only to find the flock's parents. What she doesn't know is that all the information they've found is fake and useless. And even if it wasn't, it would still be useless. The two youngest freaks (Angel and the Gasman) were sold to the School for $10,000 and their parents didn't even care about what happened to them. The black girl's parents were caretakers of the School who wanted to be part of the experiment somehow, and so donated an egg. The whitecoats lied to the blind guy's parents and told them he had died. Fang's mother was a teenager when she got pregnant, and agreed to let the whitecoats put avian DNA on him before he was born for a small amount of money. And all this is true; I overheard some whitecoats talking about it with the Director not so long ago. I heard nothing about Max though.

Apparently, the Director wants to see how she will react when she finds out that she's the only one without information about her past. She'll be heartbroken! I wish I could see her crying and suffering and trying to hide from the others so they won't know how upset she really is. I've been spying on them lately (my dad's orders), and you can't imagine how much they want to find their parents, the stupid dreams they have! But those dreams won't last much longer, 'cause their dreamers will be dead. They are here now, thinking that they'll escape, not knowing that I'm coming for 'em. But I'm not gonna kill all the mutants today, only Max. I guess she won't live long enough to see that she's the only one who doesn't have parents, but who cares? All I want to do is kill her. There she is, setting all the other mutants free. Oh Gosh, the whitecoats are not going to be happy about that.

'Sewer system, under a big city,' she told one of the mutants she had freed. 'We're on our way to fresh air and sunlight.'

'But not just _yet_,' I hissed, feeling thirst for revenge. 'First we need to chat, Maximum. You and I. For old times' sake.'

I then noticed that she was holding a mutant, a very strange one. She handed it to the mutant girl standing next to her.

'Back again? What are _you_ doing here?' She asked. I didn't understand why she hated me so much. But she wouldn't hate me for much longer, 'cause she'd be dead. 'I thought Dad was keeping you on a short leash.'

That made me furious. She had no right to talk to me about Jeb, that was none of her business. I prepared myself to attack her, I wanted to surprise her. Then maybe, I'd be able to wound her. I wanted to see her dying in pain so badly… _wait Ari, not yet._ I told myself.

'So what happened, Ari?' She asked while making 'run' motions with one hand to her flock. But I didn't care about them_, I wanted her_. 'Who took care of you when Jeb left with us?'

That was Maximum Ride. Not only strong and beautiful, but clever as well. She knew exactly how to hurt me. Why was everything so good for her, and so bad for me? I had to stay calm. She was trying to make me angry, but I couldn't let her.

'The whitecoats. Don't worry about it, I was in good hands. The best. Somebody was looking out for me.'

No one had looked after me when Jeb left, and so I had learned to look after myself. But who could be better at it? Jeb? If he had ever loved me, maybe. But no, he had decided to love the mutant freaks instead of me. But after this, he'll be proud of me. He'll look at me the same way he looks at Max. Maybe, he'll even love me again.

Max glared at me for a minute. 'Ari, did Jeb give them permission to Eraserfy you or did someone just do it while he was gone?'

Now, I was furious!!! I was prepared to kill Max right now, I could wait no longer. Jeb had actually let them Eraserfy me! He didn't care if I was human or mutant! He never cared. And Max never cared either, not even now when she was about to be killed.

'What do you care? You're so perfect, the one successful recombinant. And I'm nobody, remember? I'm the boy who was left behind.' I told her, ready to grab her neck and break it.

'Someone did terrible things to you because Jeb wasn't there to protect you,' she said. She was teasing me, I knew it. I had no more patience. _Brace yourself, Maximum._ I thought.

'Shut up!' I shouted, sounding more like a monster than a child. 'You don't know_ anything_! You're as dumb as a brick!'

'Maybe not. Someone wanted to see if Erasers would last longer if they didn't start from infancy,' she went on without listening to me. I couldn't stand this anymore. Her words were like knifes stabbing every part of my body. 'You were three years old, and they grafted wolf DNA into you, and they got a super Eraser. Right?

That was enough! I attacked her with my claws, trying to grab her neck. At least I managed to cuff her check. Then, I punched her in the face, and then, in her stomach. Blood began to come out of her lips, but this was only the beginning.

She spit blood, and then turned back to me slowly, looking murderous. 'Out in the real world, you should be in second grade,' she said coldly. 'If Jeb had protected you.'

'Out in the real world, you would have been killed for the disgusting mutant freak you are.' I said, feeling like I hated her more than I ever had. I should stop listening to her now. Every word she says makes me weaker and weaker. She really wants to hurt me, I can see it in her eyes. We could have been friends if she hadn't ignored me, if she had tried to accept me years ago. But no, all she cared about was the flock this and the flock that. She was probably thinking about them right now, trying to protect them. Not for much longer, 'cause I'll kill them as soon I finish you off.

'And you are a …_what?_' she asked, still looking at me like she hated me. 'Face it, Ari. You are much more of an obvious mutant freak than I am. And your _own father_ let it happen.'

'Shut up!' I yelled, trying hard not to cry. Why was she doing this? She really did hate me. Why? _Why?! Why doesn't anyone love me? _In times like this, I like to feel pain, just to remind myself that I'm still alive and that things could get even worse. But not now, I had to kill Max first, and make her feel all the pain she made me fee. 'You're dead meat, and I mean that literally.'

Then we started fighting again. But something happened, I accidentally slipped. I had to be more careful. Max didn't miss the chance to kick my chest, I think I heard a rib crack and felt a cold pain run through my body. That felt better. Now it was her turn.

Before I got up, she looked at her flock, who still were there somehow. 'Get them out of here!' she told Fang. That idiot was still alive? I'd hurt him badly at the beach, guess he survived after all. But I was sure we'd meet again, and then I'd really hurt him. He deserved to have a painful death, always so dark, mysterious and evil, even more than Max. I had no admiration for him at all. It was different with Max. I hated her, but at the same time, I admired her so much. She could fight like no other, and was so strong and beautiful. Was this what I wanted? Did I really want her dead?

No time to think. Max had grabbed my head with both arms, but I was faster than her and quickly got away. I punched her again, just like she had. I definitely heard some ribs crack this time. I smiled when I saw the expression of pain in her face, the pain she had made me feel minutes ago.

'Yes, Maximum, I _am_ enjoying this. I want it to last a long, long time.' I told her smiling evilly. Maybe she would learn to respect me more from now on. I hadn't showed her all my strength yet, I was only playing with her. Like a cat with a mouse. When I thought was the right moment, I'd break all her ribs. Then maybe they would hurt some of her organs and she would die in pain, like she deserved. But I wasn't so sure about that. Maybe I wouldn't kill her, not today. I didn't know if I'd be happy or sad when she died. I mean, I still hated her, but in a strange way. One side of me still wanted to be like her, and to be her friend. But my other side wanted her dead. Is it possible to love and to hate at the same time? Because that's how I felt about Max. I loved her, but I hated her.

Crap! The grime under my feet was really slippery, and I slipped again. Max kicked me in the throat as I tried to recover my balance, but it was too late. We both fell as one and it seemed like that fall lasted more than my seven years of life. Then my head slammed against the sharp edge. I heard a loud crack, and I stared at Max in shock. I then realized that I couldn't hate her. When she was still at the school, she was like the sister I never had. I loved her then and I still did. Even if she brought me to my death.

'You really hurt me,' I gasped, still unable to believe that this was really happening. 'I wouldn't hurt you, Max. Not like this'. And with that, darkness filled my eyes. The next thing I knew was that my heart wasn't beating anymore.

**Jeb's POV**

I ran as fast as I could. What I thought had happened couldn't have happened. Max was not a killer, I knew that. She couldn't have killed Ari, could she? I kept running, trying not to think. I had to use my brain, not my emotions. That's the only way to succeed. But then, I saw Ari's body on the floor, and anger and frustration flooded my mind. I looked at Max, already in the air, trying to escape from this situation. I couldn't stop myself, I started screaming.

'He was my son!' I yelled and cried. This is not something you can usually see me doing. Most of the time, I am calm. But knowing that I hadn't been able to stop this, that I didn't have control… well, let's say that I hadn't only lost my son, but before this day I thought I had control over the flock. Why hadn't I been here when this happened?

'Why are you doing this?' Max shouted from the dark sky, as loud as she could, now looking at me. There were tears in her eyes. 'Why this game? This test? Look at what you've done!

I stopped crying and looked at her, forcing myself to stop screaming in frustration. 'Max, you want answers to the secrets of life, and that's not how it works. Not for anybody, not even you. I'm your friend. Never forget that.' I said, using all my strength to think with my brain and not my emotions, something I had gotten used to do.

'I already have!' she shouted, then turned away and kept flying, getting farther away. Suddenly, I couldn't control myself anymore, and I began to scream again.

'_You killed you own brother!_' I stopped myself after a minute, realizing I had said too much. Way too much. Anyway, I ran to Ari's lifeless body and looked at him. He looked like a mistake, and it was my fault. There had to be something I could do, this wasn't supposed to happen. 'I will bring you back, Ari. I promise.'

Disclaimer: i do not own Maximum Ride.

Should i continue this story? or not? Please review.


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